UK’s biggest firms forced to reveal CO2 figures under new policy 21st June, 2012 Nick Boyle
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has revealed that some of the UK’s largest firms will be forced to reveal their CO2 figures under a new emissions policy, The Guardian has reported.
There are currently 2,549 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, and according to Nick Clegg, 1,600 of these will be required to publish greenhouse gas figures from April 2013. Big names such as Tesco, BP and Tate & Lyle will be asked to publish their data, with other large companies expected to be asked following a policy review in 2015.
The announcement is expected to come at the opening of the Rio+20 conference on sustainability in Brazil.
Clegg has said that the policy – which is expected to save the equivalent of 4m tonnes of CO2 by 2021 – is ‘part of a drive to encourage companies to measure and so begin to manage their impact on the environment in a bid to improve their performance and reduce their stress on the natural world’.
While some companies have criticised the proposal, saying that managers ‘already have enough work to do reporting emissions’ under other schemes, organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry have been urging the Department for Environment to pass the measure.
From April 6 2013, companies listed on the main LSE will have to publish their total greenhouse gas emissions for the year. This will be measured in equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide – to follow the international standard (as CO2 is the most ‘prevalent’ gas).
An environmental expert at Apollo Enviro, commenting on the announcement, said: “We actively support the Government’s legislation and understand the logistical impact this could have on a large number of public and private sector UK businesses. As such, we have established a wide range of services to assist companies with this transition.
“We would advise any companies who think they will be affected by this change to get in touch with Apollo Enviro to plan how the legislation will impact their business and to discuss strategic planning.”
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